SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD & TISSUE CENTER

THE SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD & TISSUE CENTER (STBTC) SPECIALIZES IN COLLECTING AND PROVIDING LIFE-SAVING BLOOD AND BLOOD COMPONENTS TO HOSPITALS AND PATIENTS IN THE SOUTH TEXAS REGION AND BEYOND. WE MEET THIS COMMITMENT THROUGH OUR GENEROUS DONORS, WHO HELP SAVE LIVES EVERY DAY BY GIVING OF THEMSELVES. STBTC DREW 122,044 LIFE-SAVING RED BLOOD CELL UNITS AND NEARLY 26,436 PLATELET UNITS IN 2023. THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED THERAPIES INCLUDES THE LIFE LEGACIES TISSUE DEPT., APHERESIS SERVICES, THE CORD BLOOD/BIRTH TISSUE PROGRAM AND CLINICAL & RESEARCH OPERATIONS. THE TISSUE DEPARTMENT GREW DECEASED DONOR DONATIONS BY OVER 10% AND PERINATAL TISSUE DONATIONS GREW BY OVER 8% COMPARED TO THE PRIOR YEAR, HELPING TO SAVE AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS INDIVIDUALS IN NEED OF TRANSPLANTS AND MEDICAL TREATMENTS. THE ORGANIZATION ACTIVELY FOSTERED PARTNERSHIPS WITH HOSPITALS, MEDICAL EXAMINERS, FUNERAL HOMES & TISSUE PROCESSING ORGANIZATIONS, RESULTING IN IMPROVED COORDINATION AND STREAMLINED PROCESSES FOR THE TIMELY COLLECTION AND TRANSPLANTATION OF TISSUES, ULTIMATELY BENEFITING PATIENTS IN NEED. OUR TISSUE PROGRAM HAS PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TISSUE DONATION AND IS SUCCESSFULLY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED TISSUE DONORS IN SOUTH TEXAS, CONTRIBUTING TO A LARGER DONOR POOL AND PROVIDING HOPE TO THOSE AWAITING LIFE-SAVING TREATMENTS. IN 2023, OUR APHERESIS PROGRAM PERFORMED A TOTAL OF 182 PERIPHERAL BLOOD STEM CELL (PBSC) COLLECTIONS TO HELP TREAT CANCER PATIENTS REQUIRING MARROW TRANSPLANTS, INCLUDING 4 FOR A LOCAL HOSPITAL PARTNER SERVING PEDIATRIC PATIENTS. 39 MONONUCLEAR CELL (MNC) COLLECTIONS WERE PERFORMED, WORKING WITH COMPANIES DEVELOPING NOVEL CANCER THERAPIES SUCH AS CAR T. OUR ORGANIZATION BEGAN OFFERING CRYOPRESERVATION SERVICES FOR PBSCs AND MNCs TO FACILITATE MANUFACTURING OF SUCH THERAPIES. A NEW PROGRAM WAS LAUNCHED TO COLLECT GRANULOCYTES, A TYPE OF WHITE BLOOD CELL WHICH ARE USED TO TREAT CASES OF SEVERE INFECTION, WITH 6 COLLECTIONS PERFORMED IN 2023. THE CORD BLOOD & BIRTH TISSUE PROGRAMS SENT 7 LIFE SAVING CORD BLOOD UNITS FOR TRANSPLANT IN 2023 AND BANKED ANOTHER 28 UNITS FOR POTENTIAL FUTURE USE. CORD BLOOD CONTAINS STEM CELLS WHICH CAN BE USED TO TREAT A VARIETY OF DISEASES AND CONDITIONS INCLUDING LEUKEMIA, LYMPOHOMA, SICKLE CELL ANEMIA AND MORE. THE BIRTH TISSUE PROGRAM HAD 967 COLLECTIONS THAT WILL BE USED IN LIVESAVING PROCESSES AND RESEARCH. CLINICAL & RESEARCH OPERATIONS PERFORMED 920 RESEARCH COLLECTIONS IN 2023 FOR A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS AND STUDIES. WE ARE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ALL OF US, A RESEARCH PROGRAM FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH FOR WHICH WE COLLECTED 280 BIOSAMPLES IN 2023. ALL OF US AIMS TO HAVE ONE MILLION OR MORE VOLUNTEERS WHO REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF THE U.S. RESEARCHERS MAY USE THE PARTICIPANT DATA COLLECTED TO STUDY MANY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS, INCLUDING CANCER, DIABETES, DEPRESSION, ASTHMA, AND OTHER DISEASES. AS RESEARCHERS STUDY OUR HEALTH DATA, THEY MAY FIND PATTERNS. THESE PATTERNS CAN HELP THEM UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT PEOPLE REACT TO DIFFERENT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PLANS. OUR PARTICIPATION IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD & TISSUE TO CONTINUE TO LEAD THE WAY TO BETTER HEALTH FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND BEYOND. IN 2023, WE BEGAN PARTNERING WITH UT HEALTH, SALUD AMERICA, AND THE MEXICAN AMERICAN UNITY COUNCIL THROUGH THE U.S. RESEARCH PROGRAM INITIATIVE. THIS PARTNERSHIP LED TO BETTER SERVING OUR COMMUNITY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.